Mr. Speaker, through the summer I had the opportunity to meet with business organizations across the country on the emerging issues that will affect the Canadian economy of the future.

Two issues in particular have emerged. One is the competition from the new international giants like China and India. The other is the major demographic change that is taking place within this country as baby boomers age and retire.

I can assure the hon. member and all members of the House that the government will be very aggressive in pursuing an agenda for growth and prosperity for all Canadians, including her constituents.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the House the Minister for Indian Affairs and Northern Development said in response to scathing criticism of the government's incompetence in providing clean safe drinking water to aboriginal Canadians, “we are acting on it now”, yet over two years ago the Deputy Prime Minister stated that this was a top priority of the government.

All we have today is inadequate testing, no regulations, no performance measures and zero accountability to Parliament. It has been 12 years. I ask the Deputy Prime Minister this. How many more years do aboriginal Canadians have to drink contaminated water while that polluted government takes no action?

Andy ScottMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians

Mr. Speaker, it is quite the contrary. As I said yesterday, the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of Health and I all recognize and accept the report of the commissioner. In fact, actions have been taken.

The first nations water management program only began at the end of her report and we have had great success so far. We recognize it is not enough. More needs to be done, particularly in the area of regulation, and that will happen.

Mr. Speaker, last May the government announced it was finally ready to tackle violence against aboriginal women, promising new funding that would help them live free from fear and violence. Yet last week it was revealed no funds have been put to use and will not be until October, at the earliest.

Over the summer six more aboriginal women disappeared. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations issued a warning of the potential risk of abduction. The problem is real; the Liberal reaction is not.

Liza FrullaMinister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for Status of Women

Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased with the government's announcement on the $5 million to the Native Women's Association of Canada. Before the funds are granted, since it is new money, it has to be reviewed by Treasury Board and a contribution agreement has to be signed by both parties. We now know that it will be at Treasury Board on October 17. This also adds to the funds in our other programs that we give to combat violence against aboriginal women. They will have their funds after October 17.

Mr. Speaker, we are still waiting for the government to introduce measures, such as the creation of a petroleum monitoring agency, a significant increase in the investigative powers of the Competition Bureau, and aid for the most vulnerable members of our society affected by the increase in heating costs. All these measures are in the action plan presented by the Bloc.

Can the Minister of Finance give us the assurance that the program for the most vulnerable will be funded in part by a tax on the profits of oil and gas companies equal to at least $500 million, thereby recouping the $250 million in tax cuts they have been granted over the past few years?

Mr. Speaker, that opposition party has never seen a tax increase that it did not like. We believe it is possible to respond to the needs of Canadians, helping those at the lowest income levels, providing greater measures for energy efficiency and conservation, more transparency and competitiveness in the marketplace and to do that on a sound basis with fiscal responsibility in mind without increasing the tax burden on Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Coalition to protect fuel consumers organized a protest in Saguenay. This coalition is demanding the immediate adoption of measures to stop subjecting fuel consumers to the spiralling costs of retail gas prices.

Does the minister intend to develop a plan that would, among other things, extend the $3.75 daily tax credit, up to 10% of total earnings, to the residents of regions such as mine? Very remote regions already benefit from this tax credit.

Mr. Speaker, our objective in developing any policy, including policies with respect to the cost of energy, would be designed and intended to help all Canadians everywhere in a fair and equitable manner, everyone included.

Mr. Speaker, farmers in my constituency were preparing to harvest one of their very best crops until flooding completely drowned out any such hope. This is yet another shock to farmers who over the past four years have experienced two devastating droughts, a devastating frost and BSE.

CAIS provides no relief after 12 years. Why does the government not have a program that provides real assistance to farmers when such disasters occur?

Andy MitchellMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario)

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is absolutely right in pointing out the challenges that Canadian producers are facing. The government understands that and so do all governments. That is why in the first six months of this year $3.3 billion have gone to Canadian producers. It is why the CAIS program has paid $2.1 billion to Canadian producers. It is why we had specific programming to deal with BSE and the impact on producers.

Quite frankly, the government cares about producers and it demonstrates that everyday. There have been large contributions to assist them in meeting what are significant challenges.

Mr. Speaker, he is the only person in Canada who actually believes that.

Heavy rains have hurt much of Saskatchewan over the last few months and many farmers have seen the value of their crops destroyed. After a bad drought one year, a killer frost the next and now the excessive rainfall, many producers' CAIS margins are well below normal.

The five year Olympic average for CAIS margins means that after just a couple of bad years, a farmer is unlikely to receive a payout from CAIS, so those who need it most do not get the help they need. The minister must listen to Saskatchewan farmers on this. Will he change the averaging system or will he continue to ignore producers?

Andy MitchellMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario)

Mr. Speaker, the government does not ignore producers. Let us talk about the CAIS program for a second.

Producers suggested that they did not believe the deposit system made any sense. In the budget of the Minister of Finance, we eliminated the deposit. Producers said to us that they needed to have the money come in a more timely manner. What did we change? We changed the advance program so the money would. We were not covering negative margins. Producers suggested that we should cover negative margins. We made that change. Producers said that there ought to be a different way to do negative margin. We listened to producers and did it.

The reality is the government does listen to producers and responds to their needs.

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of State for Families and Caregivers.

Tomorrow is the International Day of Older Persons and like all parliamentarians we all know the important contributions that seniors have made to our country. My riding of Davenport has a sizeable and growing number of seniors.

Would the minister provide an update on the direction of the government's efforts on behalf of seniors?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his great concern regarding our seniors who helped build this great nation of ours. As we know, tomorrow is the United Nations' celebration of older persons. It is a year of great celebration, considering what they have done in our country and around the world.

In Canada we are developing our national action plan for seniors, with a $2.7 billion increase in GIS, a seniors' secretariat, a new horizons program, affordable housing measures and rent supplements. We continue to do this to ensure that our seniors live with the dignity they deserve.